Monday, November 11, 2024

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Commentary

COMMENTARY

Michigan Daily slights U-M's satellite campuses in editorial

In the reprinted summary of The Michigan Daily’s editorial about University of Michigan satellite campuses (“Revamping satellite campuses necessary for U-M’s growth” SN 9/17), the paraphrased description “used mostly as trade schools for the auto industry” outrageously diminishes the quality of those institutions.

COMMENTARY

Criticizing drinking habits of students solves nothing

In response to Pavan Vangipuram’s Alcohol use in E.L. warrants serious consideration (SN 9/22), I’ve been reading the same judgmental columns in The State News about anyone who drinks alcohol since I was a freshman. But every writer seems to miss something crucial: It is pointless to try to change someone else’s behavior by shaming and criticizing them.

COMMENTARY

Disregard 'lies' on magazine covers

You’re in line at the checkout in CVS Pharmacy and notice the magazine rack stocked with this month’s latest. Marie Claire and Shape stare back at you, rife with regurgitated headlines and a carefully sculpted, pouty female prepared to disclose the trials and lamentations of fame. “Sculpted?” you think. Yeah, right. The pen tool in Photoshop can work wonders.

COMMENTARY

Calling Salvation Army 'gross' offends those who shop there

I picked up The State News for the first time Sept. 12. I optimistically skim through the paper and excitingly start with my first article Retro hippie chick fashions cheap, feminine wardrobe (SN 9/12). Fashion always has been a passion of mine; little did I know I’d be offended after reading the article.

COMMENTARY

Alcohol use in E.L. warrants serious consideration

To walk down one of our residential avenues on a Friday night is a sobering experience. Not for any lack of alcohol imbibed — that, at least, is open and apparent — but for the insights it offers into human behavior. A casual stroll on a weekend evening will reveal spectacles that would be horrifying if their constant presence had not already desensitized us.

COMMENTARY

Bridge Card can assist struggling students

There’s no shame in asking for help. If you’re struggling through a math class, you can hire a tutor. Lost on a road trip? Pull over and ask someone at a gas station for directions. But what happens when you find yourself having to decide between paying the rent and buying groceries?

COMMENTARY

Learn about Mich. government now

At the beginning of the school year, I find myself reflecting on my experience as an undergraduate student at MSU from 2001 to 2005. Though I am now a graduate student at MSU, I take my classes in the Detroit area, where I work full-time, and seldom find myself in East Lansing.

COMMENTARY

Black community still questions the impact of Obama's nomination

Just a few months ago, both black and white people were questioning Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama’s “blackness.” That is to say, black people wanted to know if he was going to help black people and white people wanted to know if he was going to help black people exclusively.

COMMENTARY

Stop dreading end of the world

Last week, much of the world was on its feet worrying that the human race was going to get sucked up by black holes created by the Large Hadron Collider, or LHC. The next day, billions of people woke up relieved we were still here.

COMMENTARY

Sharia courts single out British Muslim community

During the past half century, the Western world has, for the most part, prided itself on its acceptance of foreigners coming to its shores and respective cultures. The United States has gone so far as to declare itself a melting pot, where its immigrants’ cultures have a chance to meld and blend.

COMMENTARY

MSU students should also think of supreme court at polls this year

Members of the MSU community should vote to re-elect Michigan Supreme Court Chief Justice Cliff Taylor this November. With most of the attention focused on the presidential election, few people will notice this important, nonpartisan position. However, voting for this “down ballot” office still is very important.

COMMENTARY

Frugal habits will ease impact of banking crisis

The economy of the United States took a stunning body blow Monday when storied Wall Street firms Lehman Brothers and Merrill Lynch both failed in different ways — Lehman Brothers Holding Inc. was forced to file Chapter 11 bankruptcy and Merrill Lynch & Co. sold itself for pennies on the dollar to Bank of America Corp. — even as American International Group Inc. and Washington Mutual teetered on the brink of collapse.

COMMENTARY

Tactful use of new technology a must

Technology has gone too far. For more than a century, that’s been the cry of the luddites of the world. Yet even as modern society rejects the call to arms, it still seems to have struck enough of a chord to become a prevailing theme in our popular culture. The Fox network alone has two primetime shows centering around the theme.